Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Alright Already

So I got off early today, I had fully intended to come home and, “network” or blather my useless opinion on other blogs…there were a bunch of really spirited postings this morning and I do loves me some getting in the middle of a fight…rawr……the thing was, the more I read, the more it sounded like the same fight, barfed up by another voice and with the words shifted to make it sound different, not that inspiring, matter of fact I took a nap. Now anyone that knows me knows, I don’t nap, but faced with wretched daytime television or putting my two cents in….again, I swear I’m in like over a dollar now, on the same topic…yeah, call me Ms. Sleep E. Poo.

Don’t get me wrong, I think this stuff is fun to watch, fun to participate in but after like a month of the same topic, (a topic that is nowhere near being settled…nor will it be for some time, and in my opinion, will never be settled in a way that is going to make everyone happy) well, let’s just say I was more inspired to post on the Hello Kitty wine posting over on Wine Sooth.

So here’s the deal, (for those of you that don’t check blogs obsessively…yeah, me either) the big “fight” is print media versus bloggers….yeah, same fight that Parker started, no one is over it. Now a blogger who’s posts I do read every day, (unlike Parker….I could give two shits what that guy has to say) who also happens to be a bit, caught in the middle as he is both a blogger and a wine critic, posted yet another thread about print versus internet or “professionals versus the common man” I thought about posting all day, I did, but nothing new came to me, I had already said my piece. My whole deal is, there are enough wine drinkers/lovers all with varying styles and opinions, that are looking for more information, so to me the more of us there are the better….I kind of let it go and flipped through the magazines I got in the mail, um….yeah.

So I get Food & Wine magazine, not sure why other than my subscription is magically linked to my Amex card and it just renews itself each year, and each issue I sit in the corner of my couch, big glass of wine by my side, ripping out the subscription cards and bemoaning the fact that you cant tell the advertisements from the real stories or articles, it’s my monthly ritual. I finally gave up searching for the real stuff and flipped to the table of contents to find an actual wine article and flipped to the page….I think I may have found part of the problem.

So what met my eye was yet another article where the fancy publication, you know, the “critics” went to a restaurant in New York and asked the sommelier what his dream wine list would look like, really? Not that it’s not mildly interesting, but I have read it before…a few times. I slapped the magazine shut without reading a word, not to sound all, “I’m so above that” but why do I care?!The whole thing got me thinking and I think I have come up with a theory that may please some of the people, cuzz you know the whole, all of the people all of the time deal…I’m not delusional. So as long as print media keeps writing the way they do, about the things they do, you know…Cote Rotie is, blah, then the more people that have been reading for a LONG ass time are going to look elsewhere for something new. Does that make those informative articles obsolete? Hell no, it reaches all the people that are just getting into this wild wine world, and long time readers will still read for the wine write ups or scores if they are so inclined…but for the rest of us, there are blogs!

Now what will happen should a newbie stumble upon some ill informed blog and regurgitate the wrong info? Take a deep breath….nothing. Won’t be any different than those jackhole’s that listen to their “friend that is into wine” they will look stupid, be made fun of and either learn more or move on to something else…I was sitting in a restaurant a few weeks ago, with a Wine Country staffer and we sat there listening while some, “wine guy” schooled his friends on Petite Syrah, “This is a Petite Syrah, the grapes are small and much sweeter so it will always be a sweet red wine”….awesome. Did we sit there writhing in pain from his wrong-ness? Hell to the mother-f’n-no, we laughed our asses off…thing is, those guys at his table, they were going to believe him over me, the other long time wine store staff member or any critic…know why, they trust him. I just pictured a billion wine geeks heads imploding.

There is a place for all of us, the informative, the informative yet playful and the plain out irreverent…pick your flavor, we have something for everyone, that my friends is a very good thing. If learning about residual sugars and PH do it for you, there are people and magazines that are right up your alley. If you would rather eat your own hair than read about those things, there are folks for you too….although the internets seem to be servicing those folks better than print media…where is the Carrie Bradshaw or Bridget Jones of the wine media world?! Oh and um, I think I might me available should some super smart, glossy mag want to explore that avenue!

Well, shit howdy I guess I did put in my two cents….hope all four of you enjoyed it.

8 comments:

Spot on, Sam! That is exactly the way I feel. That wine "columnist" or whatever the hell she calls herself at F&W comes across as shrill & a name dropper, uggh. It does seem like the same regurgitated vomit out there. On a good note, my friend Kelly English is on the cover of F&W this month as one of the best new Chefs!

Just because one is a blogger doesn't mean one has to be involved in all the mindless blather. The incessant whining of wine bloggers, the "attention barking of lonely poodles" as I frequently refer to it, is symptomatic of their incessant and pathetic need to be accepted. Their "attacks" on the mainstream media remind me of how Sonoma so often belittles Napa while Napa completely ignores them. Parker just made the mistake of lowering himself into the fray.

Darling, write about what's on your mind, not about what's on everyone else's minds, feeble as they might be. Spend less time on other blogs (except mine) and more time having fun in your own head. I'm sure it's a lovely place to be. And far more interesting to read.

Michael, It just gets so old, I understand, I really do....I have to write for a newsletter, and have been for like 10 years. It gets mind bending trying to think of something interesting to say that has not already been said like 2000 times! I think I am just getting sucked into the "snippy" when people take swipes at blogger and bloggers at each other...I just want a group hug, (raised by a hippie) and for everyone, including myself to get back to writing about wine and drunken evenings.

Ron, you are right...and a little pervy might I add, and thanks for both. That post is what happens after a bottle and a half of Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc and I have no one to spar with at midnight. Going to just be done with the whole thing already...sigh, I'm sure there are plenty of other things I can get myself all twisted up about! Tonight I will be wearing fangs..."Kill Em".

When it comes to these wars between the old and new media, Falstaff said it best: "Discretion is the better part of valor." Write about what you love, do so with passion and integrity, and you retain the moral high ground over those who oppose you.

I read the same wine list article in F&W, well, actually, I read about 3 paragraphs, tried to skip to some food or recipes, or something, and, after 1/3 of the mag was ads for industrial wines, threw the thing down and went to bed. I read blogs and drink wine. Whew.